New Cocktail List at Bijou.

The team at bar Bijou near Belorusskaya has unveiled a refreshed cocktail list, especially rich for spring. It now has 15 new cocktails in total, each created not just for flavor, but as a reflection of a specific idea, character, or cultural context. Head bartender Igor Kokoulin and his team are behind the drinks. They don't just mix ingredients — they construct full stories, from the source of inspiration through to the final flavor in the glass. To let the flavor come through more vividly, every cocktail is paired with food or a snack that rounds out its composition.

Cocktail L'oiseau de feu is built on an orange aperitif, passion fruit, and Asian spices. The idea behind it was a costume for Stravinsky's ballet "The Firebird," hence the exotic profile. Queen Anna's Revenge references pirate lore: it's based on rum with dried bananas and port, and the name ties to Blackbeard's flagship. Picky Drunky, made with vodka, grapefruit jam, and sherry with pine nuts, comes out sour-bitter in style. It's dedicated to the bar's manager, whose own taste runs exactly that way.

Among the signature twists on classics, Cuban Perfect stands out — a variation on the Cuban Number 2 with maraschino liqueur and a homemade lime cordial added. Or La Défense, an aged Manhattan-style cocktail where cherry-infused rum is mixed with vermouth and maraschino and barrel-aged twice. It's named after the Parisian business district often compared to New York. Dessert cocktail François Massialot is topped with cream foam and a caramel chip — a nod to the French chef considered the inventor of crème brûlée.

The gin section has several unusual items. The classic Bee's Knees gets a twist through gin infused with honeycomb, paired with a clarified lime cordial. Charente Martini No. 2 combines French gin with Spanish vermouth and green parsley oil, served with artichoke, olive, and pickled onion. And the Jeanne Moreau cocktail, scented with tea rose, references the actress of the same name and the white rose variety that was her favorite.

The "draft" section is devoted to art. The cocktail École de Barbizon, for instance, is built on dandelion gin, sorrel, and sparkling wine — the name ties to painter Millet and his school. Comte de Buffon is a refreshing drink with botanicals ranging from raspberry to lemongrass. And Kryushon Mayakovskogo is built on sparkling wine, recalling the poet's fondness for champagne and fruit punches.

The final cocktail, Gargantua et Pantagruel, is a mix of brandy, ginger ale, blackcurrant liqueur, and almond orgeat syrup. It's the drink for when you want something strange, a bit bold, and definitely unconventional. The name draws on Rabelais's work, in which, much like in the cocktail itself, the creators cast an ironic eye on convention.